Poplar Street Vice District
A rough downtown corridor where St. Louis's nineteenth-century vice economy spilled toward the river.
Historic Poplar Street formed part of the city's landscape of brothels, saloons, cheap lodging, and riverfront vice.
The Story
Poplar Street ran through a part of nineteenth-century St. Louis where commerce, transient workers, drinking, lodging, and prostitution overlapped.
The district's brothels ranged from established houses to far rougher establishments closer to the river. Its history illustrates why St. Louis officials repeatedly struggled over whether prostitution should be suppressed, tolerated, or regulated.
Much of the historic environment disappeared through twentieth-century redevelopment and highway construction, leaving only fragments of the old street geography.
What Remains Today
Visiting Information
Location
Historic Poplar Street corridor, downtown St. Louis, Missouri
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